Participant 15

Guiding Questions:

What are your initial thoughts about the concept of Literacy with ICT (LwICT)?

I feel that with the speed that technology is advancing, schools and teachers really need to embrace many of the concepts outlined in the LwICT continuum. I especially like the way in which the framework is set up, with emphasis not only on the cognitive aspect, but with the ethical and societal implications as well. I would agree that with the pace of technology, many are ignorant of the full impact that it has on our lives and need to be educated throughout their lives on these issues. My only concerns with this initiative are 1) Selling it to the "shareholders". With all of the initiatives and workload issues teachers experience every year, this can be a very slippery slope for many teachers who are not as technologically inclined as the members of this committee. Even with the offer of release time, most teachers would rather teach than utilize the release time citing workload as the reason. 2) Using technology for the sake of it may be any unintentional outcome of this. A focus of the process must be promoting the use of technology when it best suits the learning needs of the student. As of right now, there are many opportunities for this to happen and it is critical that it does. Over time, this pendulum may shift too far at the expense of "traditional" learning methods. Monitoring this over time is important. 3) Cost. Both to obtain the necessary hardware (ie probeware) and software (ie virtual lab program) to implement many of the descriptors, and also in terms of time (allowing educators to inservice and train). Other than this, I am very interested in seeing where this initiative goes.

What implementation barriers for LwICT do you foresee at Senior Years?

See above

What opportunities does LwICT present for Senior Years?

The opportunity to link students with the required skills industry and post-secondary are emphasizing.

What professional learning is required initially to prepare Senior Years teachers to begin to use the LwICT continuum?
First, educators have to be interested in the use of ICT themselves before they begin to use it in the classroom. This is probably the biggest hurdle to overcome...the first one. To do this, the ICT must be easy to use, require minimal inservice and prep time, and provide evidence to the teacher that it is more effective to the student than the traditional approach. If this can be done, I think the ball starts rolling and perpetual motion begins. Without this, its a tough sell.

What types of ICT do you currently have in your Senior Years classroom?

Data projector, computer. Use of many animations from various internet sites. Probeware is used occasionally.

What types of ICT are available to you in your school, but not in your classroom?

Computer labs, digital cameras, digital video camera.

What subjects and grades do you teach and how do you currently use ICT to enhance student learning?

Science 20F, 30S, Chemistry 30S, 40S. Computer animation to describe macroscale observations at the microscale and atomic levels. Probeware (pH, temperature) used occasionally. Motion sensors occasionally. Internet research.